Moms of Multiples Tell it Like it Is

If you find yourself in Chicago…

… with a couple of little kids on a rainy day, boy oh boy do I have the place for you.

This morning, my mom and I took the kids to the Skokie Park District’s Exploritorium. To call it an “indoor playground” does not begin to do it justice. There was an arts and crafts area, a big plastic climbing structure with two slides, a bunch of push-toys, several computers, a train table, a stage with lots of dress-up clothes, books, puzzles, a water area, and a two-story tube and tunnel climbing course. Heck, there was even an exersaucer and a couple of little play tables for the less-mobile ones. It was, in a word, awesome. And cheap! $4 for adults, $6 for kids, and toddlers and babies two and under were free. A bargain at twice the price, I swear.

The only down side is that, bold as I usually am, it’s not really do-able with two toddlers and only one adult. It was tricky enough with one-and-a-half adults (I’m still hobbling along on my post-op foot), definitely not something I’d do on my own with my two 16-month-olds. But if you’re in the area and have a 1:1 child-to-adult ratio, it’s well worth the outing. There’s no stated age range, but I think anywhere from toddlers to young elementary school kids would have parts they would enjoy. My kids had a blast. I suspect we’ll be going back before this trip is over…